Drinking water for the home or office is generally stored in bottles, and dispensed by unsealing a bottle and inverting it onto a water dispenser. Water dispensers are usually metal, ceramic or plastic devices, depending upon their size; some are free standing and others are countertop models. Water dispensers generally have an interior storage chamber for the water, an opening on top of the dispenser for receiving an inverted water bottle, and means for dispensing the water from the chamber to the user. When a bottle is inverted onto the dispenser, the water flows into the interior storage chamber. In some dispensers, the storage chamber can chill or heat the water; others dispense the water at room temperature.
Water dispenser bottles are either round or angular in shape, and are usually made of clear or opaque glass or plastic so that the water level can be viewed. Although the bottles are designed to be useful, these characteristics make the appearance of a water dispenser at best a utilitarian and somewhat unattractive addition to the home or office environment.
Several covers for water dispenser bottles are described in the prior art. A water cooler bottle cover for circular bottles is illustrated in Design Pat. No. 266,056 to Lear. The Lear cover appears to slide onto and completely enclose the bottle. However, this cover does not allow the user to ascertain the amount of water remaining in the bottle.
Bourgo et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,995 discloses a knit cover for beverage containers that has inherent heat insulating properties. However, such a cover is undesirable for use with water dispenser bottles because modern water dispensers only cool (or heat) the water once it is inside the dispenser chamber, rather than in the bottle itself, thus rendering the heat insulating properties of the water bottle cover useless. Furthermore, a cover with such insulating properties would tend to accumulate moisture from sweating and possibly contribute to the growth of bacteria which may lead to contamination of the drinking water itself.
Dumbeck et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,250 discloses a decorative protective hood for water dispensers. However, the hood is designed to tightly hug the water bottle to protect the bottle from scratching and to contain the glass fragments should breakage occur. Since most water bottles are now constructed of plastic due to weight and safety considerations, this feature is no longer particularly useful. Furthermore, because of its form-fitting nature, the hood requires a longitudinal seam which extends vertically down the back portion and ends with a manually openable and resealable flap. Finally, the hood of Dumbeck does not teach means for attaching accessory features.
Medellin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,418 discloses a refreshment center that mounts on the inverted water bottle. This refreshment center consists of a compartmentalized box which extends down over the water bottle and which may be fixed in position or which may rotate in carousel fashion around the water bottle. However, this refreshment center is difficult to employ and does nothing to lessen the utilitarian aspect of the appearance of the water dispenser.
What is needed is a water dispenser bottle cover that is easy to use, that has means for attaching accessory features, and that improves the appearance of the water dispenser itself.